Future of regional finance in Colombia

Abstract

In Colombia, departments (each one of its thirty-two administrative divisions) are financed through their own resources and through transfers from the national central government. The differences in how each department obtains these resources mean that changes in the country's territorial fiscal policy can have very different impacts in each region. Going forward, it is crucial to strengthen equality between regions while encouraging their fiscal autonomy, so that public spending can be targeted to address the specific needs of the country's diverse geography.